Authenticity is a ‘HOT’ topic in the Yoga Community right now, and as a Yoga Teacher and Teacher Trainer it is one of the core values of my work, and one that I instill into my blossoming new teachers. Yoga in the modern day has become quite a fickle industry, and can seem confusing and even perhaps hypocritical at the best of times! Are the tights you are wearing made of sustainable materials? Are you a yogi who consumes dares sneak a cheeky sip of wine, are you REALLY in a constant state of Zen? When was the last time you juice-fasted? Is your guru an Indian Sage or an American Yoga Celebrity…YIKES! Not to worry, the constant push-pull to be the holiest of yogis whilst owning a business and parenting kids in the urban jungle of the city drives me mental as well. Thank You to all of the well-meaning yogis who say to me…’Your a Yoga Teacher, you must be Zen ALL of the time, I would love to be as ‘GOOD‘ at Yoga as you!’

Here is the reality yogis…Just because we are passionate and devoted to sharing in the practices of Yoga as a teacher doesn’t mean that we didn’t come to Yoga BECAUSE the practices called out to us in our times of darkness. I really love this lyric from a fave Indigo Girls Tune: ‘Darkness has a hunger that’s Insatiable, and Lightness has a call that’s hard to hear.’ I found yoga for so many reasons, but one very distinct reason was because of my long-term relationship with Anxiety. The stresses of a performing career, a move across the world, becoming a new mother, and launching a business have definitely taken their toll on me over the years, but like my most loyal and devoted friend Yoga has always been there to catch me, to support me, to heal me, and to shine the mirror of truth on me…which is sometimes hard to see! The words that I speak on my teaching mat, they are born of the experiences of transformation that I have witnessed on my own mat, when the dark call of stress and sadness loom over. The other half of my life outside of the yoga studio involves the stimulation of city life, my gorgeously noisy children, the upkeep of a marriage and a house, finances, activities, social obligations, etc, etc, etc. I come to my mat as SOLICE from the busy-ness and stimulation of daily life, and as a teacher, I come to my mat to fill up my own bucket with wisdom and understanding, so that I can share it with you.

We can stress ourselves silly trying to be the best YOGI that we can be, and within the industry of Yoga these pressures are real. But really yogis, if you are arriving on your mat, despite whatever state of being you are in, and you are willingly dropping in to your practice from a place of self-love and devotion, you ARE the best yogi, living your authenticity, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And in that moment, you are seated, present, in your own perfection.